200th milestone cannot hide Croatia's twilight.

At BMO Field in Toronto, the clock ticked to the 81st minute as Luka Modrić was substituted off.

The stands rose to applause.

Looking up at the scoreboard, it read 1-0. The winners were Panama.

The 40-year-old Modrić walked off the pitch, grinding his way to 200 international appearances. Ronaldo, Messi, Kuwait's Al-Mutawa—that exclusive 200-cap club has just a handful of members. While his personal milestone hit its peak, his team's pride was nearly stripped bare. No lengthy post-match speech flowed from him in the mixed zone; only local media kept harping on those few minutes of standing ovation.

This 1-0 win in Group L's second round had palms sweating. Before the match, Modrić's national team ledger read 199 caps, 29 goals, and 31 assists—the ceiling for a midfielder. Yet he flew to Toronto only to play cleanup for 81 minutes, wasting energy in ineffective runs during this 1-0 win. Official data on distance covered and possession percentages weren't disclosed, but the narrow victory had already exposed their cards. Croatia's aging squad isn't something journalists need to fabricate; the tangible fatigue on the pitch can't be faked. Panama, knocked out by this loss, fought to the final second, nearly dragging this third-place finisher from the last World Cup into the mud.

Making his debut at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Modrić later draped silver and bronze World Cup medals around his neck, all the way to the 2026 tournament in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Five World Cups spanning 20 years. Modrić and Messi sit at the same table as "five-time World Cup living fossils." The harder the fossil, the more it shows that Croatia's midfield production line has stalled. Twenty years ago, he orchestrated attacks from midfield; twenty years later, he's still filling the gaps there. No young successor has emerged behind him.

Two hundred international caps—enough for the federation to issue a lengthy congratulatory statement. But football doesn't settle accounts overall. A 1-0 win over Panama saved their skin but also bared their flaws. At 40, his legs were subbed off at 81 minutes; amidst the applause, the aura of a farewell tour overshadowed any relief from the win. A team needing a 40-year-old veteran to plug the midfield void has its ceiling locked in from the group stage.

In the knockout rounds to come, no one knows how many more 81-minute shifts he can endure.